Flushing Meadows Corona Park

FLOWERS TO BLOOM BESIDE "LAVENDER LAKE"

Like the block associations, the artists, and the business
people, Parks sees opportunity along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn—the opportunity
to reflect a groundswell of neighborhood improvement with new green space. Four
greenstreets within blocks of the canal are a part of the improvements getting
started there. On Thursday, December 12, a crowd met at one of the four to water
its plants.

The Gowanus Canal was once branded the Lavender Lake, but thanks
to the hard work of Buddy (Saver) Scotto and others, today, oysters,
fish, cormorants, and even a seal have been spotted swimming the canal. To expand
on these changes, Parks is greening the streetscape.

The four Brooklyn greenstreets, designed and planted as a suite,
are at varying stages of completion. All of them are planted with native species
that echo the plants one might have found duringthe historic Battle
of Brooklyn. They are the plants that might have died when the Lavender Lake
was at its most purple. Goldenrod, New York Aster, Inkberry, and Chokecherry,
will bloom there once again. The sites have been designed with seating
areas and small pathways from which visitors may view activity on the canal
and in the neighborhood. Triangular planting beds will echo those in nearby
community gardens. Like those gardens, the planting beds may be filled with
whatever vegetation the neighbors desire. Sweetgum trees will open and accent
those already planted along the streets. In all the details of their design,
Gail (Edelweiss) WittwerLaird, Director of Greenstreets,
and Greenstreet Designer Sara (Hyde) Cohen seek to express the
history, the geography, and the present-day vitality of the neighborhood.

The four greenstreets are part of the citywide Greenstreets
program. On the day of the greenstreet watering, Parks had planted 1,982. By
year’s end, 2001 will have been planted. Stewards have adopted 239 of those
greenstreets as well as 2,900 street trees. Four neighborhood groups, identified
by the Development Corporation, have agreed to adopt these sites. Parks looks
forward to partnering with Amtronics, Bona Fide Fuel and Oil Company, Inc.,
the Degraw Street Gardeners, and the Second Street Gardeners. Council Member
Angel (El Coqui) Rodriguez made the work possible with a contribution
of $272,000 in requirements contracts.

1,982 GREENSTREETS AND COUNTING...

On a quarter of an acre site on Francis Lewis Boulevard in
Queens, Parks will plant a garden for all seasons. In the first days of March,
Forsythia will bloom there. In the heat of summer, visitors will find Sand Cherries.
In autumn, they’ll see ornamental grasses. Parks is planting three large evergreens
that can be lit and celebrated for the winter holidays. The work will be completed
with $20,000 of plant material donated by A&S Nursery and $85,000 in requirements
contract money from the mayor. Requirements contracts are discretionary funds
that allow us to make rapid, targeted improvements to sites around the city.
In this case, they will enable Parks to complete a transformation from concrete
to greenstreet. Work began in a ceremony on Saturday, December 15. State Senator
Frank (Evergreen) Padavan; Council Member Michael (Wild
Turkey) Abel; Council Member-elect Anthony (Golden Eagle) Avella;
Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern; Rich (Ricardo)
Murphy, Queens Borough Commissioner; Estelle (Unisphere) Cooper,
Assistant Commissioner; Ed (Labrador) Lewis, Assistant Commissioner
for Queens Parks; Bram (Dogwood) Gunther, Deputy Director of Central
Forestry; and Antoinette, Salvatore, and AngeloGraci,
Owners of A&S Nursery were among the honored guests in attendance.

Wherever possible, Parks strives to plant greenstreets with
hardy plants that can survive the New York climate and native plants that recall
the natural history of the neighborhood. The neighborhood of Whitestone, where
the new greenstreet lies, was founded by Dutch farmers in 1645. They named the
area for a large white boulder that broke the tides along the shore. The Dutch
purchased the land from the Matinecock Native Americans at the price of one
ax per fifty acres. In 1735, the discovery of clay deposits stimulated the widespread
growth of pottery manufacturing. In the mid-nineteenth century, the discovery
of a hot spring in the neighborhood brought the area notoriety as a place of
healing for anemics. During this period, New Yorkers referred to the town as
Iron Springs. Parks seeks to distinguish Whitestone by its natural features
once again; hopefully, the greenstreet on Fort Lewis Boulevard will spur further
greening in the near future.

The new steel climbing equipment in Queens’ Astoria Park Playground
could not exactly have fit under most holiday trees—unless we’re talking about
a giant redwood. But that didn’t stop Parks "elves" from lovingly
wrapping it in a huge package with a large, green velvet bow. Mayor Koch and
other officials offered it as a special holiday "gift" to the city
the Thursday before Christmas.